TransLash Podcast with Imara Jones

This week, we explore the controversy surrounding Amy Sherald’s painting Trans Forming Liberty, which depicts a Black trans woman posing as the Statue of Liberty.In the summer of 2025, Amy Sherald canceled her highly anticipated and historic exhibition, American Sublime, at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery after Sherald said she faced pressure from museum officials to remove Trans Forming Liberty and show a video of it instead.Rather than compromise, Sherald pulled the show and brought American Sublime to the Baltimore Museum of Art, where it became the museum’s most attended exhibition since 2000, drawing more than 80,000 visitors.Explaining her decision, Sherald said, “The video would have opened up for debate the value of trans visibility, and I was opposed to that being a part of the American Sublime narrative.”First, we hear from Grace Byron, an art critic who wrote about the chilling effect of Trump’s anti-trans executive orders on trans artists in a piece for the New Yorker called “The War on Trans Art.” Then, we hear from the model depicted in Trans Forming Liberty, Arewà Basit, who is also an artist herself.This week’s Trans Joy features Gericault De La Rose, a Chicago-based artist.Send your Trans Joy recommendations to translash_podcast @ translash [dot] org Follow TransLash Media @translashmedia on TikTok, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, and Facebook.Follow Imara Jones on Instagram (@Imara_jones_), Threads (@imara_jones_), Bluesky (@imarajones.bsky.social), X (@ImaraJones)Follow Grace Byron on social media (@emotrophywife)Follow Arewà Basit on Instagram (@arewabasit)Follow Gericault De La Rose on Instagram (@im.ubae)

This week, Imara sits down for a vulnerable conversation with Minnesota State Representative Leigh Finke, the first trans woman ever elected to the MN House of Representatives. In her time in office, Finke has focused on policies that expand housing and healthcare access and cement civil rights protections, most notably a trans refuge law that includes some of the strongest legal protections for gender-affirming care in the nation.But Rep. Finke’s time in office has been filled with turmoil. In June of last year, her friend and MN House Speaker Melissa Hortman and her husband were killed in a politically motivated murder. And, more recently, Minneapolis was besieged by ICE, which resulted in the killing of two citizens. In this episode, Rep. Finke gets real about how hard it is to be a trans legislator in today’s political environment and what motivates her to keep fighting.This week’s Trans Joy features Trina Tate, an educator who develops mindfulness curricula for public school students.Send your Trans Joy recommendations to translash_podcast @ translash [dot] org Follow TransLash Media @translashmedia on TikTok, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, and Facebook.Follow Imara Jones on Instagram (@Imara_jones_), Threads (@imara_jones_), Bluesky (@imarajones.bsky.social), X (@ImaraJones)Follow Representative Leigh Finke on Instagram (@leighformn)Follow Trina Tate on Instagram (@pillowwizard)

What does it mean to be seen by millions and still be figuring out who you are? For multi-hyphenate artist Dylan Mulvaney, it means letting go of the pressure to be palatable.Dylan was already a touring theater actress when she  first gained global attention on TikTok with her viral series Days of Girlhood and has worn many hats since, including a playwright and now, a Broadway performer.This week on the TransLash Podcast, Imara Jones sits down with Dylan for a wide-ranging conversation about her journey from internet sensation to starring as Anne Boleyn Six the Musical and what it means to step into her next chapter on her own terms.Dylan opens up about what people often get wrong about her rise,  how she’s always been a theater kid at heart and in practice and how social media both created opportunity and challenged her sense of self. Together, Imara and Dylan explore the tension between visibility and privacy, the pressure to be “palatable,” and what it means to move from people-pleasing to self-definition while exploring why softness and earnestness can be powerful in a cynical world.This week’s Trans Joy features Ticket Knowlton, a theater director, dramaturg and dancer from Atlanta, Georgia. Send your trans joy recommendations to translash_podcast @ translash [dot] orgFollow  Dylan Mulvaney on Instagram &  TikTok: @dylanmulvaneyFollow TransLash Media @translashmedia on TikTok, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, and Facebook.Follow Imara Jones on Instagram (@Imara_jones_), Threads (@imara_jones_), Bluesky (@imarajones.bsky.social), X (@ImaraJones)You can get tickets to see Dylan in Six the Musical here: https://www.broadway.com/shows/six

On March 31st of this year, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of a therapist in Colorado who argued that the state’s ban on conversion therapy violated her freedom of speech. While the ruling does not endorse conversion therapy, it does allow the practice to continue, despite the fact that conversion therapy has been widely debunked as pseudoscience and dramatically increases the risk of depression and suicide in queer and trans youth. To understand the ruling and its impact, we hear from Mother Jones reporter Madison Pauly, who has been following the insidious rise of anti-trans conversion therapy, and Shannon Minter, the Legal Director of the National Center for LGBTQ Rights, who has been at the forefront of the legal battles for queer and trans rights for decades. This week’s Trans Joy features River King, a registered nurse at a queer community clinic in Brooklyn, NY.Send your trans joy recommendations to translash_podcast @ translash [dot] org Follow TransLash Media @translashmedia on TikTok, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, and Facebook.Follow Imara Jones on Instagram (@Imara_jones_), Threads (@imara_jones_), Bluesky (@imarajones.bsky.social), X (@ImaraJones)Check out our guests on social media: National Center for LGBTQ Rights @nclrightsMadison PaulyBluesky: @msjpauly.bsky.socialRiver King Instagram: @riv.king

In this two-part series, Imara sits down with Ayman Mohyeldin of MS Now to break down the history, politics, and power dynamics between Iran, the United States, and Israel. In this second episode, we take a deep dive into Iran’s complex relationships with its Gulf neighbors and examine how political narratives and dehumanization contribute to misunderstandings within U.S. foreign policy and the White House’s approach to Iran.This week’s Trans Joy features Matice Moore, an organizer and project director at The Brown Boi Project! Check them out at https://www.brownboiproject.org/staff.html Do you know someone who represents trans joy? Tell us about them by emailing us at translash_podcast@ translash [dot] org Follow TransLash Media @translashmedia on TikTok, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, and Facebook. Follow Imara Jones on Instagram (@Imara_jones_), Threads (@imara_jones_), Bluesky (@imarajones.bsky.social), X (@ImaraJones)Check out our guest on social media: Instagram: @aymanm @msnownews Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

What’s really happening in the Iran war…and why does it feel like we’ve seen this before?After a little over a month of war, a fragile ceasefire is now in place between the United States, Iran, and Israel. But the question isn’t just what happens next; it’s whether we’re repeating the same mistakes that led us here in the first place.In this two-part series, Imara Jones sits down with MS NOW’s Ayman Mohyeldin to break down the history, politics, and power dynamics between Iran and the United States. If you’ve been trying to make sense of the Iran war, the ceasefire, and the risk of a wider regional conflict, this conversation gives you the context you’re not hearing anywhere else.This week’s Trans Joy features Addye Susnick, an organizer, zine artist, and PhD candidate in political theory at the University of British Columbia.Send your trans joy recommendations to translash_podcast @ translash [dot] org. Follow TransLash Media @translashmedia on TikTok, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, and Facebook.Follow Imara Jones on Instagram (@Imara_jones_), Threads (@imara_jones_), Bluesky (@imarajones.bsky.social), X (@ImaraJones)Check out our guest on social media: Instagram: @aymanm @msnownews

Easter is this Sunday and we know that, for many in our trans community, faith can be complicated. That’s definitely true for Semler, a queer, nonbinary Christian music artist who grew up a preacher’s kid. Now, Semler draws on both their faith and their queer identity to create a new kind of Christian music that’s topping charts and making waves.This week’s Trans Joy features Flamy Grant, the shame-slaying, hip-swaying, singer-songwriter drag queen from Asheville, NC.Send your trans joy recommendations to translash_podcast @ translash [dot] org Follow TransLash Media @translashmedia on TikTok, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, and Facebook.Follow Imara Jones on Instagram (@Imara_jones_), Threads (@imara_jones_), Bluesky (@imarajones.bsky.social), X (@ImaraJones)Check out our guests on social media: Instagram: @gracebaldridgeTikTok: @semlerrrrInstagram: @flamygrantTiktok: @flamygrant

It’s almost time for Trans Day of Visibility! To celebrate, Imara is joined by actress and activist Angelica Ross, who tells us all about her engagement to financé Adebayo Katiiti and contemplates the ups and downs of being a trans celebrity today.This week’s Trans Joy features Marley Gotterer, a New York-based actress & comedian known for her absurdist stand-up comedy.Send your trans joy recommendations to translash_podcast @ translash [dot] org Follow TransLash Media @translashmedia on TikTok, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, and Facebook.Follow Imara Jones on Instagram (@Imara_jones_), Threads (@imara_jones_), Bluesky (@imarajones.bsky.social), X (@ImaraJones)Check out our guests on social media: Instagram: @angelicaross

March is Women’s History Month, and trans women have made extensive contributions to the field of feminist thought. With women’s and trans rights under attack, it’s more important than ever to remember that these fights are interconnected. This week, Imara speaks with trans feminist writer and author of Whipping Girl Julia Serano about how trans feminism can continue to shape activist movements towards liberation.This week’s Trans Joy features Zo Shay, an ethnomusicologist, audio engineer, and musician based in Los Angeles. Send your trans joy recommendations to translash_podcast @ translash [dot] org Follow TransLash Media @translashmedia on TikTok, Instagram, Threads, Bluesky, and Facebook.Follow Imara Jones on Instagram (@Imara_jones_), Threads (@imara_jones_), Bluesky (@imarajones.bsky.social), X (@ImaraJones)Check out our guest on social media: Bluesky (@juliaserano.bsky.social)YouTube (youtube.com/@juliaserano) Patreon (patreon.com/juliaserano)Substack (juliaserano.substack.com)Instagram (instagram.com/juliaserano)